Locum Tenens Intensivist (Pulmonary & Critical Care) Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
When you need locum intensivist coverage, the hiring decision starts with matching the physician’s recent ICU practice to your unit’s patients, procedures, and overnight responsibilities.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
Healthcare Headhunters helps you assess pulmonary and critical care physicians for temporary ICU assignments. We ask about recent bedside work, coverage boundaries, and availability before presenting candidates. Your brief should distinguish ICU service from pulmonary consultations, bronchoscopy, outpatient clinic, and overnight call.
These duties can share a specialty label without sharing the same daily workload.
Start with how your ICU operates. Does the intensivist direct care in a closed unit, consult in an open unit, or share decisions with admitting physicians? If an overnight physician covers several services, identify who responds first to deterioration and who handles admissions. Candidates need that picture before accepting dates.
Then define the work expected during each shift. Ask about rounds, new admissions, ventilator management, procedures, family discussions, and handoffs. Separate tasks the physician performs from tasks another team handles.
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Recent ICU practice: Ask, “Describe your last ICU assignment, including patient mix, admissions, and overnight duties.” Useful answers identify actual responsibilities, staffing support, and work performed personally, rather than listing hospitals or repeating a specialty description. Escalation and handoffs: Ask, “How did you transfer responsibility for an unstable patient at shift change?”
- Look for a clear account of pending decisions, contingency plans, receiving clinicians, and documentation. Ask how disagreements about ownership were resolved.
- Procedural fit: Ask, “Which ICU procedures have you performed recently, and which did you refer?” Compare the answer with your expected duties and requested privileges. Recent experience with airway procedures, vascular access, or bronchoscopy should be examined separately.
- Team decisions: Ask, “How did you divide rounds, admissions, and urgent calls with advanced practice clinicians and residents?” Strong answers describe supervision, communication, and escalation boundaries. They should not assume your staffing model matches a previous assignment.
- Credentials and practice history: Ask, “What active physician licenses, specialty certifications, and current privileges support this assignment?” We screen credential information and work history, including gaps needing explanation. You verify credentials, complete clinical assessment, and grant privileges through your process.
- Availability and call: Ask, “Which dates can you commit to, and what other duties could overlap?” Confirm daytime coverage, overnight presence, callback expectations, and handoff time. An available calendar does not establish that the physician can meet the full schedule.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
Potential source pools include physicians working in hospital ICUs, pulmonary and critical care groups, academic medical centers, and established locum practices. We look at the physician’s own duties within those settings. Employment in a referral hospital alone does not demonstrate recent independent ICU coverage.
Some physicians may seek defined blocks between ongoing commitments. Others may want assignments focused on inpatient critical care rather than a mixed clinic schedule. We ask why the proposed assignment fits, whether existing obligations conflict, and what support the physician expects from respiratory therapy, nursing, consultants, and procedural teams.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is advertising pulmonary and critical care coverage without separating ICU shifts from pulmonary consults or clinic. Candidates may accept different work than your service actually needs. Another is treating board certification as proof of every procedural skill. State your certification criteria, then review recent experience and the specific privileges requested.
Agreeing on dates before explaining nights and handoffs. If coverage crosses services, document who receives calls and which clinician retains responsibility when the shift ends.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Send the dates, ICU model, patient population, call schedule, and expected procedures. We discuss recent practice, credentials, schedule commitments, and reasons for accepting temporary work. Compare shortlisted physicians on recent independent ICU coverage, procedural experience, and overnight responsibilities. Include pulmonary duties outside the ICU and the clinical support available overnight.
Define the assignment
Identify which obligations cannot be separated from the assignment.
Review matched candidates
You interview candidates against the actual shift duties and assess clinical judgment. Resolve unclear procedural experience before advancing the privilege application.
Confirm the start conditions
Confirm who can cover your mix of ICU admissions and pulmonary consultations without conflicting commitments. We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts. Agree on orientation, access, handoff contacts, and the approved scope before placing the physician on the schedule.
National median annual wage. SOC 29-1229, Physicians, All Other.
BLS reports Physicians, All Other as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Locum Tenens Intensivist (Pulmonary & Critical Care), its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
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Can we assess someone whose recent work was mainly pulmonary clinic?
Yes, but examine the recency and extent of ICU responsibilities. Your clinical assessment should address any gap between that practice and the bedside duties you need covered. A physician with recent consultative work may need closer review for an assignment involving continuous bedside responsibility and frequent procedures.
Can the same physician cover ICU rounds and pulmonary consultations?
Possibly, but define both workloads and their overlap. Ask how urgent ICU responsibilities would be covered while the physician evaluates patients elsewhere.
Should we request pulmonary and critical care board certification?
State your institution’s certification criteria clearly. Certification should be considered alongside an active physician license, recent practice, and the privileges needed for the assignment.
How should we assess overnight coverage experience?
Ask whether previous nights involved onsite work, telephone call, or callback. Have the candidate describe admissions, escalation routes, and available backup during those shifts.
What if bronchoscopy is part of the assignment?
List it explicitly rather than assuming it follows from the specialty title. Review recent procedural work and confirm the proposed privileges through your credentialing process.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
Share your ICU coverage dates, service model, and procedural scope. We can discuss which physician backgrounds fit the assignment and what needs clarification before candidate review.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
Locum Tenens Neurologist (incl. Telestroke) · Locum Tenens Pediatrician & Pediatric Hospitalist
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.